Energy Costs

13th October 2017

Draft legislation designed to lower the cost of energy bills has been published by the government. The Draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariffs Cap) Bill will give energy regulator Ofgem the power to cap standard variable tariffs. About 12 million households are on some form of uncapped default tariff, which can cost hundreds of pounds a year more than the cheapest deals. However, the price cap is unlikely to take effect before winter.

Energy prices could be capped until 2023, the government has said, as it unveiled draft legislation to limit bills for up to 12 million households. Some of the major energy suppliers and several Conservative backbenchers have criticised the proposed cap, with one Tory MP branding it “Marxist”, while consumer groups and several small suppliers welcomed it. The absolute cap on all standard gas and electricity tariffs would be a temporary measure set by Ofgem, the energy regulator, and designed initially to last until the end of 2020. The government could extend the cap for a year at a time until the end of 2023 at the latest, depending whether Ofgem advised that conditions were in place for “effective market competition”. Theresa May said the draft bill was a vital step towards “offering crucial peace of mind for ordinary working families”, because millions of loyal customers had been overpaying for energy by hundreds of pounds.

A proposed cap on British electricity and gas bills will be temporary, the government said on Thursday, as it published draft legislation that will lead to the biggest state intervention in the retail energy market since privatisation nearly 30 years ago. The legislation will introduce a cap on expensive “standard variable tariffs” – the most common energy deal on the market, involving 15m of Britain’s 27m households. The move comes after Theresa May, prime minister, promised to end rip-off energy prices once and for all” at the Conservative party conference last week. But in what appears to be a concession to free-market Tory MPs who oppose state intervention, the government said the cap will initially expire in 2020. It can be extended annually until 2023 if deemed necessary by the energy regulator.

Clients have included Greenpeace, Nuclear Free Local Authorities, WWF Scotland and the UK Government’s Committee on Radioactive Waste Management.

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